Chrysler's LHS offers an elegant design in a big luxury sedan that makes a statement of status and achievement. Fortunately, the distinctive design is backed up by the driving experience. The LHS is a joy to drive. It rides smoothly and handles remarkably well for a full-size front-wheel-drive sedan.
One model is available. The $28,090 LHS comes equipped with a 3.5-liter V6 and a lovely leather interior that's loaded with luxury features.
The big egg-crate grille, sculptured headlamps and fluted hood on the LHS show once again Chrysler isn't afraid to step out of the box. Its designers have forged ahead, leaving the rest of Detroit and much of the world back in the 1990s. LHS fills out Chrysler's line of expressive leading-edge designs. Surely it influenced the folks at Mercedes-Benz before closing last year's Daimler-Chrysler mega-merger. The Chrysler LHS is a beautiful car.
With its graceful, fluid lines, LHS emulates the craftsmanship of classic automobiles. It is a classic, yet contemporary design penned by 37-year-old Mark Hall, who designed the Chrysler Concorde. The new LHS looks less formal than the previous-generation LHS, yet more graceful, more elegant. Like the Concorde, LHS was designed with the look of a coupe to make the four-door sedan look sleeker than other cars in its class.
The most noticeable design element is that grille, edged in chrome and adorned with a big winged Chrysler medallion. Like its less-adorned cousin, the Chrysler Concorde, the front fascia on the LHS has been engineered to meet impact requirements without the need for an external bumper. Sculptured headlamp bezels surround compact projector beams with integrated fog lamps and turn signals. The shape they describe flows seamlessly into the fluted aluminum hood. Augmenting the headlamps are driving lights molded into the lower fascia.
Viewed from the side, the lower sill ties the unique front and rear fascias together. It reduces aerodynamic drag and complements the larger wheels and tires used on the LHS. The rear roofline, or C-pillar, describes a faster arc than previous-generation LHS for a more contemporary rear rake.
A winged Chrysler medallion adorns the deck lid, while wrap-around taillamps have a red/amber split to delineate the stop and turn functions. Oversized reverse lamps, molded into the lower part of the fascia, are brighter and highly functional, an improvement over the previous model. A pair of stainless steel oval exhaust tips indicates the added power and performance of the new V6 engine.
LHS was designed to compete with Buick Park Avenue, Oldsmobile Aurora and Lincoln Continental. LHS retails for $28,995 and comes standard with everything: ABS and traction control, leather seats with heaters, memory presets for the driver's seat and exterior mirrors. Options are limited to items Chrysler knew some customers would not want: a $795 moonroof, a $600 set of chrome wheels that come with a full-size spare, and a 320-watt Infinity audio system.
The elegant, flowing shapes that grace the exterior are carried through inside. Interior surfaces are soft to the touch for a luxurious feel. No seams are visible where the passenger airbag resides. The instrument cluster display was revised for 2000 for improved visibility. Elegant white-faced analog gauges, surrounded by thin chrome bezels, use electroluminescent lighting. Stylish typefaces give them a classic look. A beautiful white-faced clock that features watch-like detail is mounted in the center of the dash. Flanked by the Chrysler wings, it complements the design theme. Major controls use large twist dials. Few manufacturers get radios right and the LHS features slider tone controls that are challenging to operate when driving. For 2000, Chrysler has added an optional four-disc CD changer to its Infinity II audio system. Overall, the wood trim is attractive, but the oval piece of wood surrounding the shifter seems unnecessary and diminishes the positive effect of the rest of the trim.
